


Young love

by Iyv



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:41:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iyv/pseuds/Iyv
Summary: Some time after the war has ended, aang invites his old friends over to republic city. Some new adventures ensue. This is my take on how the relationship of Toph and Sokka came to be.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong/Sokka
Kudos: 13





	1. The academy

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment about what you think of it! Sorry it's short, it was just a try out.

There was something Toph missed after the war. Maybe it was the thrill, or even being with her friends. She hasnt’t seen them for a while now. The metal bending academy has kept her busy ever since she started it. Maybe it has been 6 months? Longer? She doesn’t even know anymore. All she knows is that this life of only teaching people metal bending, even if she really likes being called Sifu, isn’t her thing.

“Sifu Toph! Sifu!” She was shaken from her thoughts and moved her attention to the boy who was currenly screaming like a maniac at her. “Tui and La, please Bao, i’m blind not deaf.” She pulled a painful grimace on her face. “What are you yelling for anyways.” The boy stammered and finally said softly: “Sifu, we have been training for a while now and…uhm.. it’s kind of hot outside so could we maybe get a break?” Toph sighed loudly after a small silence between them. She sensed his nervousness from the pace his heart was going at. It wasn’t that hot outside, it was hot when they were fighting the fire nation, this is nothing. “Allright then lily livers!” She screamed. Bao covered his ears in defence. Consider this a payback. “ You got a 30 minute break! Don’t waste it.” She heard a series of sighs and mumbles and after everyone walked out of the room, silence.

She took the time to think back about their adventures. She missed her friends a lot and hadn’t seen them all together since Aang’s birthday. She heard about his and Katara’s engagement via a letter that someone had to read to her. Sokka was in the Southern water tribe, helping his dad with something…. I don’t know…. a chief would do. Zuko is becoming a great Fire lord and has the Kyoshi warriors on his side to protect him every move. And there she was… all alone. She lived in a room in the academy by herself and teached her students from morning to afternoon. It was pretty quiet on her own. She loves the silence of this place, but part of her just misses Sokka’s sarcastic remarks, Katara’s motherly response, Aang’s laugh…

A loud screeching noise came from the sky, a messenger hawk landing in front of her on the ground. “Bao! Can you come here.” She screamed at the direction her students were having their break, of course after she came by from her almost heart attack. She felt the footsteps of the boy approaching her quickly. “ Sifu Toph! What’s wrong?” She pointed at the hawk in front of her. “Does he have a letter?” “ Yes he has, do i need to read it to you?” “ Well i can’t read it myself, so that leaves only one option.” He loosened the letter from the harness the hawk had on, and the bird flew away. After some paper rustling sounds he began reading.

“ Dear Toph,  
How is everything going at the metal bending academy? I hope you haven’t killed anyone yet.”

She heard Bao gulp loudly at that statement.

“I wanted to ask if you could come over for some weeks to Republic City. We have some problems that probably need the help of the best earthbender in the word. We are also planning an engagement party for me and Katara and we would really appreciate it if you could come. I hope to hear from you soon.  
Take care, Aang.”

Toph smiled “Write him a letter back. I’d love to come to Republic City.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After packing some clothes in a bag messily, she ran downstairs and waited outside for the sounds of a familiar sky bison. And it didn’t take long before her expectations became true. With a loud thud, Appa landed on the groud some 30 foot in front of her. “ Nice to see you again Toph!” the airbender said as he jumped from Appa’s back and landed softly into the grass. “ I wish i could say the same about you, twinkletoes.” She smiled as they gave each other a big hug. “So, what do you need me for over in Republic City?” She asked as they let each other go. “I will explain on our way there. Is this your only bag?” Aang took a glance at the duffel bag in a questioning way. “ Of course, i don’t need a lot of stuff. You didn’t tell me what i need to do so i assumed that i didn’t need to pack anything special.” “You know we are having an engagement party, right?” She folded her arms. “As if i have any fancy dresses, and i didn’t even plan on wearing one.” Aang didn't think about that. “We’ll see if we have something for you. Do i need to help you getting on Appa?” “Probably.”

This isn’t part of what she missed. She hated not feeling solid earth underneath her feet and being in the air ever since that time on the fire nation air ship. Sokka was the only thing she could hold on to at the time and she was holding on to appa’s saddle just the same way now. She regularly thought about what happened and was afraid to ever experience that again.

“ Are you doing ok Toph?” She could just hear his smile in his voice. “Does it look like i’m ok?!” Aang glanced over his shoulder. “I didn’t tell you one thing though.” “What could possibly be worse that this.” Toph groaned just at the thought of possibly having to be in the air for longer then needed. “ We’re on our way to get Sokka from the Southern water tribe. The boat would take too much time so i thought Appa would be faster.” Hearing his name was the only positive thing about this hellish ride. She missed her best friend and his stupid jokes. But then she remembered. “ Aang, i didn’t bring any warm clothes with me, how will i survive.” “ Maybe Sokka has something to wear, if you’re lucky enough.”


	2. The Southern water tribe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph and Aang arrive at the Southern water tribe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first chapter got more kudo's then expected, so i guess i'll continue it! My next update will maybe take a while as school is starting again for me. In the meantime, i hope you can enjoj this chapter and ignore any spelling and grammar mistakes as well as possible repeated words 😅. Let me know what you think!

The closer they got to the Southern water tribe, the colder the air got. She was kind of getting nauseous by the combination of the wind in her ears that was cauzing her to get a headache and appa who would occationally drop a feet or two. “Aang, how long till we get there?” Toph asked with chattering teeth. The airbender, visibily unharmed by the cold wind in his face, turned around to look at her. “We’re already descending. Just hold on for a couple more minutes.” Easy for him to say, he was used to it. It was such a long time ago that she sidn't understand how she could have ever had a normal ride without getting sick. The sounds of people laughing and talking in the distance motivated her to not throw up her breakfast and think about something else instead.

Appa made a soft landing on a snowfield just next to the high walls of the tribe. Toph could finally take a breath from that stressful ride. She heard Aang saying something along the lines of thanks to Appa as the sky bison roared in return. Aang returned his attention to the earthbender. “I’m going to search for Sokka and ask him for some clothes; you stay here, ok?” as if she could go anywhere, it was too cold for that and she still felt nauseous. “Just get going already, or I’ll die of hypothermia.” She didn’t need to say that to him twice. 

Toph passed the time by listening to all the people having conversations, and smelling all the food people were cooking inside and outside their houses and guessing what it was. Until she heard two familiar voices talking in the distance. Took them long enough.  
“Toph! We’re back, we also brought some shoes for you.” Those dreaded things, but she didn’t really have a choice in this weather and at this point she just really wanted to be warm again. “Just bring me the stuff Aang.” Instead, he gave the clothes to Sokka. “Actually, I’m meeting Hakoda to talk about the current status of the tribe, so Sokka here will help you. I’ll see you two tonight.” she was pretty sure that it was a excuse for something, but she decided to not pay attention to it. 

Toph didn’t care that much about Aang's duties to be honest, but it was nice to spend some time with Sokka for a change. It was a long time since they even saw eachother. “Hey Toph, long time no see. How are you doing?” Sokka asked as he tried to climb on Appa with clothes in his hands. “Could have been better at the moment, you?” He sighed when he finally managed to get on the saddle and handed her everything.“I’m doing alright actually. Just helping my dad with whatever he needs me for. Do you need help getting that on?” He looked at her as she currently tried to put his parka on as pants. “I can’t even feel what is what, pretty sure my hands are icicles.” Sokka took the parka from her hands and pulled it over her head, his scent felt intoxicating to her. For some reason, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Maybe it was just nerves because she hadn’t talked to him for a long time. 

After Sokka helped her get everything on correctly, totally not a little bit awkward, she finally began heating up again. “So, do you want to get some food?” She just now noticed how hungry she actually was, the last thing she ate was breakfast. Maybe it was late in the afternoon now guessing from all the cooking everyone was doing and how late Aang picked her up at the academy. “Sounds like a good idea, meathead. I’m starving.” Sokka smiled at the sound of his old nickname she gave him all those years ago. “How I missed being called that, c’mon i’ll help you get off appa.” He gave her his hand as they both slid down from the saddle via Appa’s tail.   
From the moment she touched the snow with her shoes, everything was fuzzy. One of the reasons she didn’t like being in the snow. She unwittingly held onto Sokka’s arm just as she had always done when she felt unsafe or couldn't 'see' well. “So what do you want to eat? There is a stand with smoked fish, or we could go somewhere and have some seaweed noodles?” “Definitely the noodles. I don’t think my stomach can hold too much after riding Appa.”

The Southern water tribe only had one restaurant. The village has become quite a bit bigger after the war ended and the last time Toph was there. More people, houses and now even a restaurant, wich has really good seaweed noodles by the way. The place was cozy, a firepit that was lit warmed the place up. On the light coloured walls was a beatiful display of tools used to catch fish, they looked quite old. “So… how is Suki doing?” Toph asked, her mouth stuffed with noodles. “To be honest, I haven’t really heard from her for some time now. My guess is she’s busy.” From the tone of his voice she could tell he was kind of upset by it. “It will be alright Sokka, we are all busy. I’m sure Aang and Katara invited her and the other Kyoshi warriors to their engagement party too.” Sokka smirked. “I sure hope so. So how are you doing on the romantic path? Did anyone manage to get your attention, huh.” He said in a teasing tone. Toph sighed. “I don’t like the way you said that. No, no one interests me. I don’t need a boyfriend anyways. I’m only 17.” She heard him laugh. “Don’t choke on your noodles, snoozles.” She felt a blush creep up her face. Not because what she had said wasn’t the whole truth, but because she felt like he didn’t believe her. She was pretty sure some people in the restaurant were looking at them right now, how embarrassing. “But what about that Satoru guy? I thought eventually he would make a move. He was obsessed with you.” She could just imagine his smug face. Eventually, they both joked around about how much Satoru was in to her and her status as the best earthbender, first metalbender and her being a Beifong. “ I have no interest in Satoru at all, sorry loverboy.” They both talked and laughed, stuffing their faces with noodles until the bowls were empty. 

It was already dark outside when Sokka and Toph returned to Hakoda’s house. Tomorrow morning they would leave for Republic City, but thinking about that could wait. They were tired and full, but continued joking with each other until they reached the door of the house and opened it. Aang and Hakoda were talking in the living room in front of a firepit that was placed in the middle with some food in both their hands, but stopped when the door opened. “There you guys are! We were already thinking of searching for both of you. There will be a snowstorm tonight so that would have been dangerous.” How typical of Aang. He got the worrying from Katara. “ Restaurant… we had too much food.” Was all Sokka could tell them. “Where are we sleeping tonight?” Toph asked, ready to crash then and there. “There are only two other rooms other then this room,” Hakoda said. “one is mine, so that only leaves one more room for all of you. Luckily, Sokka already packed most of his stuff so there isn’t that much of a mess in there anymore.” Sokka facepalmed loudly. “Thanks for telling them, dad.” “Can I maybe sleep next to the fire? I’m not used to how cold it is.” Toph asked. To be honest, the pelts on the floor didn’t sound that bad at this point. “I’m already happy if I can lay down.” Sokka remarked. “How about we just sleep here in this room for tonight? So your room can stay tidy, Sokka.” Aang gave a playful giggle as Sokka looked at him annoyed. “Sure.”

Hakoda started a fire in the firepit before he went to sleep, so the room could warm up. The three of them were spread out around the fire. They talked for a while untill Sokka fell asleep while Aang was telling about how he imagined the wedding to be. Not too long after that, Aang too fell asleep, leaving Toph alone with her thoughts and the sound of the fire next to her. This day has been the busiest she had in a while, something other then teaching all day. She hasn’t laughed that much in a long time and she was happy that she was with her friends once again. Toph had missed all the fun she had with Sokka in the past and she was glad it hasn't changed over the years, as they where best friends back then. Maybe she could try and teach Aang metalbending? How would Katara react when she sees Toph after all this time? All those thoughts gave her a new headache.

She really needed to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Aang woke her up. They would be leaving on Appa soon, but she definitely wasn’t ready for another ride. As a precaution she didn’t eat any breakfast before their trip to Republic City, to avoid a possibility that it could come out again. Sokka said goodbye to his dad and climbed on Appa’s saddle with a bag full of food for on the way there. He pulled Toph on the saddle and they made themselves as comfortable as they could until Aang showed up and took his place on Appa's head. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat? It could take some time before we get to Republic City." He was already eating some seal jerk.y "I'm sure Sokka, don't worry about me." The earthbender was already getting sick thinking about food right now. "Are you guys ready for take off?" "As ready as we can be." Sokka answered for her. The moment Appa took of, she held onto Sokka's arm for dear life. 

He didn't seem to mind, though.


End file.
